NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party will go all out in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming elections, its top ideologue Yogendra Yadav has said, in comments that provide the strongest indication yet that the fledgling political outfit has put the key battleground state, especially coveted by BJP, firmly in its cross-hairs. Yadav also said his party's stance towards FDI in retail was not "cast in stone".

Even as the jury is out on whether the Aam Aadmi Party's image has taken a beating within a month of assuming power, its spokesman Yogendra Yadav tells ET in an interaction that history shows rise of democracy has never been celebrated by intellectuals. Excerpts:

What is your assessment of the performance of the AAP government in its first month?

We are not running a government in an ideal situation. First, we don't have majority. Secondly, if you had asked me of all the states which one I would not like to govern, it would be Delhi. It is because of the dual structure of its governance. We don't control police, land and law and order. But we have done more than most governments in their first month. We are responding to unprecedented levels of hope.

In hindsight, was the dharna a good idea?

In our minds there was no doubt that we would enter a confrontation sooner or later. It came sooner than we thought it would come. We knew that the question of Delhi government's control over police cannot be resolved through letters and resolutions. We have seen this drama over the last 15 years. To my mind, the only way of shaking these structures was to take it to the streets.

The mistake was that we did not respond to the issue the way we should have. We should have put the video footage in the public domain immediately. By the time we had acted, the opinion had frozen. In politics timing is everything. If you get the timing wrong you get everything wrong. We got the perception game wrong.

What lessons have you drawn from this experience and would prescribe to your ministers?

Speak less and only when necessary. There is a certain propriety attached to being a minister.

Do you feel the dharna and the Bharti episode have damaged support for you in certain constituencies?

I think we've touched a chord somewhere. If you look at the history of the rise of democracy, there has always been deep fear. This rise was never celebrated by the intellectual class. It was always articulated as the fear of the mob.

Tell us about your Lok Sabha plans.

I hope that we'll become the seventh recognised national party after the Lok Sabha elections. In the last 30 to 40 years while the third space has expanded, the third front has shrunk and disintegrated. After the upcoming general elections, no matter what the numbers are, we should be able to establish ourselves as the third force. With the Congress shrinking the way it is, we could have a go at being the second force.

Turning to economics, your decision on FDI has investors worried...

As far as rolling back decisions of the previous regime is concerned, I thought that was the norm of democratic governance. You bring a new party to power so that it usher in changes. These changes, however, should not be at a huge cost to the economy. But in Delhi no investment had been made in FDI in retail.

What is the AAP's overall stand on economic issues?

The Aam Aadmi Party wants to move away from the orthodoxies of the Left and the Right. Debates of yesteryears have turned questions of instruments into religion. We need open-minded discussions on economic policy and decisions need to be based on empirical evidence. Our challenge is to frame policies that seek solutions. There is no Left or Right wing in our party. We are focused on finding the smartest way of being people friendly.